Family histories with citations for reference and research -- Searching: note that there may be multiple spellings from different sources. -- "It is a revered thing to see an ancient castle not in decay; how much more to behold an ancient family which has stood against the waves and weathers of time!" - Francis Bacon.

1252 at Nottingham, Sir William de Ferrariis, earl of Derby, gave William de Ferrariis his son the manors of Wodeham, Stubbyng and Feristude [which he demised to Margaret his mother]. (S) CIsPM, 1906, P237.

3/28/1254, William’s father died; his older brother Robert the heir.

4/4/1254, Appointment, during pleasure, of William de Wylton to keep the lands and castles late of William de Ferrariis the younger, sometime earl of Derby.

1254, King Edward I granted his first-born son and heir the lands of William until he reached “full age”. (S) Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Courts of Exchequer, Meeson, 1841.

1260, Robert, earl of Derby, granted his brother William the manor of Chorley with Botlonle-Moors. (S) A History of the County of Lancaster, V6, 1911.

4/1264, William taken prisoner at the battle of Northampton, committed to the custody of Roger de Leyburne.

12/20/1264, Mandate to William la Zuche to deliver William de Ferrariis and the rest … to the king. (S) CPRs.

1/5/1265, … all those taken prisoner in the late conflict at Northhampton and Edward the king’s son granted to the said Roger [de Leyburn] William de Ferrariis, taken in the conflict, wherebyhe requires of him a grievous ransom … which the king will not endure … he commands him to cause [William] to be delivered at once. (S) CPRs.

1265, William supported Simon de Montfort in the Baron’s revolt. (S) The Barons’ War: Including the Battles of Lewes and Evesham, Blaauw, 1871.

1266, William, a chief baron, captured after fleeing the battle of Chesterfield and hiding in a church.

7/11/1266, William pardoned by the King for all previous offenses.

1270, Colban, Earl of Fife died.

1270, William Ferrers, son of the countess of Ferrers, who was the daughter of Roger de Quincy constable of Scotland, married the widow of Colban who had recently died, and received the dignity of constable, which Alexander [Comyn] earl of Buchan unjustly held on the strength of his wife, who was a younger daughter of the said Roger de Quincy.

8/19/1274, after the death of Henry III, Edward I crowned king.

3/12/1280, William’s mother died.

4/15/1281, Writ of plenius certiorari … on complaint of William de Ferrariis that the sheriff of Essex ahd taken into the king’s hand the manors of Wodeham, Stubbyng and Feirstude which he had demised to the said Margaret, his mother, who had restored them to him long before her death. (S) CIsPM.

1281, William de Ferrers, the brother of the brave but turbulent Robert, earl of Derby, who had his principal residence at Groby in Leicestershire, and also held the manor of Walton on Trent, summoned to serve in Edward I’s Welsh expedition. He attended the king in person on this occasion. (S) The History of the County of Derby, V1, Glover, 1829, P406.

1282, William fought with the King in Wales.

2/11/1283, William a witness of the First Great Charter of King Edward I.

6/28/1283, William de Ferrars summoned to Shrewsbury by writ from Rhuddlan to the king to hold a colloquium to ordain what should be done with David, brother of Llewellyn, formerly prince of Wales. (S) The Titular Barony of Clavering, 1891, P16.

1/1288, William, knt. of Groby, Leicestershire, died leaving his 18 year old son William as heir. (S) Lancashire Inquests, Extents, and Feudal Aids, Farrer, 1903. [He had two tracts of 43 and 36 acres, and a water mill.]

(S) Magna Carta Ancestry, P386.

Child of Colban and Anne:

i. Duncan, born 1262 in Scotland.
Duncan, Earl of Fife.

Children of William and Anne:

i. William de Ferrers (2498688), born 1270 in Leicestershire, England.

ii. Anne de Ferrers, born ? in England.
Anne married John de Grey.
[Anne the 19th-ggm of Justice Oliver Wendell Homes.]